Hiccup the Da or How to train your children
by Rooflessandolder
Summary: He has the Biggest Brood on Berk - as if running a village wasn't enough to worry about. With four kids, and a pregnant wife, and you know, a gazillion things to do, can he leave Toothless as a babysitter? We'll see. Daddy-hiccup, total family fluff. Set after HTTYD2 - some spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: This is my first story for like, 5 years so please be kind! Total hiccstrid family fluff, mainly daddy hiccup. One-shot, may develop it if I get some good reviews, we'll see.**

* * *

Astrid looked around her.

It was getting dark, and an orange halo silhouetted the buildings to the west. The grass was a greyish green, recovering from the springs thaw and danced with long shadows in the evening breeze. Astrid tightened her shawl around her shoulders and listened to the sound of slow, soft footsteps, plodding lazily towards her. From where she stood, leaning on the front door-frame, she could see a young boy walking tiredly, up towards the house.

He had flushed red cheeks, still chubby with the last podge of infancy. Wrapped from his boot-clad feet to his be-scarfed rounded chin in fur pelts, he was just far too tired to walk any faster than his slow plodding pace. He pushed his coppery hair up, out of his eyes, dragging a trail of snot from his nose up his face as he went. His eyes were drooping, and he wasn't thinking of much at all.

Astrid doubted he'd even want something to eat before bed, the poor lad looked so tired. She lovingly watched as her oldest son, now nearly seven years old dragged himself wearily up the steps.

"Dad's worked me to death," he groaned as he walked into the living area, not even bothering to wipe his feet on the door-rug.

"Now Fin," Astrid started gently, "I'm sure it wasn't that bad!"

"It was!" Fin collapsed backwards, over the side of the couch, his feet dangling over the sides in exaggerated exhaustion. Astrid walked over and pulled off his boots, tickling the underside of his feet and pulling playfully on his toes as she did.

"Mum! Stop!" Fin cried, desperately trying to suppress his giggles. "I'm nearly seven! You can't do that any more!"

"So stop me!"

"I can! I'm stronger than you!"

"We'll see about that," Astrid challenged, scooping the boy off the couch and onto the floor. She sat on-top of him, pinning down his elbows with her knees and ticked him mercilessly, not relenting even as the tears of laughter fell from the boys face.

"Mum! Mama! Stop! I'm the mightiest! You can't do this to me!"

"You don't look like the mightiest right now, young Fin!" Astrid teased, relenting her hold and letting him push her off, rolling over her and attempting to pin her down with his little knees over her elbows, but struggling to fit over the swell of her slightly gravid belly.

"I am! I am the strongest, the mightiest, the bestest fighter in this house and I challenge you to-"

In his mirth, Fin hadn't noticed the padded footsteps clink up behind him. Suddenly, he was plucked into the air by two strong hands and was flying up to the ceiling, then was falling, falling and then caught by his smiling father.

"Better be careful what you challenge your mother to, son. She was the fierciest warrior Berk's ever seen back in the day."

Astrid narrowed her eyes at her husband. "Back in the day? I still am!"

"I could take you on!" Fin goaded confidently.

"You've been spending too much time with Uncle Snotlout."

"I like Uncle Snotlout! He doesn't make me clean the stables all day!" The boy elongated the last two words for emphasis, rolling his eyes in the same way Hiccup often did. Astrid tried not to smile.

"Yes, well, little boys who have been busy mucking out stables all day need to have their dinner, and a wash, and get a good nights sleep," chided Astrid

"I'm not tired!" Fin insisted. "And I'm not little."

Hiccup grabbed two bowls from the kitchen table and plonked one in front of his son, digging into the other with the same enthusiasm that he always greeted his evening meal with. Fin followed suit, and before Astrid had time to prepare some water for them to wash in they had both finished, and were raiding the biscuit chest to see what treats she'd baked today. As she took the warm water off the fire hook, she felt a hand on the small of her back, and Hiccup took the water pail from her.

"I'll get that, love, you shouldn't be carrying heavy things."

"As if I could get through a day without lifting this, I'm a Viking housewife"

Hiccup narrowed his lips chidingly, but knew he couldn't really argue. He put the pail on the table, threw a wash cloth at Fin and settling a hand on his wife's neatly rounded stomach.

"And how are my babes today?" hiccup smiled, leaning in to kiss Astrid gently on the lips. Somewhere behind him, Fin made a sound like retching.

"Noula is asleep on our bed, I couldn't get her to settle in the crib, and Liv and Leif in bed, but I think awake still. They were when I finally got Noula down."

"I meant you and the one in here"

"That's the easy one." Hiccup looked at her, "we're fine! Just a bit tired."

"Well, you go to bed and I'll get Fin up and then we can have some time alone"

"I can't, I've only just got Noo to sleep, she might wake up if I move her now."

Hiccup sighed to himself. Life with four kids - and a village to run - meant he didn't get much time alone with his wife anymore. He loved them to bits, there was no denying - Fin, with his exaggerated confidence and schemes that always seemed to land him in trouble; Liv, his oldest daughter, with big blue eyes and an aptitude for drawing; Leif, a steadfast little boy with a determination to be as good as his big brother at absolutely everything and finally little Noula, or Noo as he called her, after the joking noise he made after finding out his wife was pregnant yet again, barely a year after Leif was born. Noo was the spitting image of her mother, with blonde hair and blue eyes, whilst the other three had hair like his. However,. there was no denying that they took up a lot of his wife's time and energy. Hiccup idly wondered who this fifth baby would take after. He couldn't quite imagine having a blonde son - it just summoned up images of his old friend Fishleg's chubby little lad, now four years old and when clad in winter furs looked like a cute walking barrel.

He gently pushed his wife onto a chair, and left her happily chattering with Fin about his day at the dragon academy.

"Dad says I can have my own dragon when I'm eight! But first I have to clean out all the stables every day to show that I am responsibuble enough to look after one all on my own..." Hiccup heard him chatter away as he walked up the stairs, two at a time. He peeked his head around a door, where two small voices where whispering inside.

"Daddy!" cried Liv, her eyebrows thrown up in happiness.

"Shhh, stay in bed now, both of you", Hiccup whispered, pushing them both gently back into their bunks. He'd built this bunk bed shortly after Liv turned two and was too old for her crib. He'd had to build a second a few years later, and now Liv and Fin occupied top bunks, whilst Leif occupied the bunk below Fin, and Noula slept in a crib that fitted in the bunk under Livs. He'd have to think of a new arrangement, with the new baby, he thought. Five kids. Wow.

Some time later, as he blew out the candle in the kids room, having settled the three youngest (Noo carried ever so gently from her parents bed, Hiccup whispering soft nothings as she stirred), he felt a wave of love and responsibility wash over him. These tiny little lives, the lives of all his villagers, and all the dragons, rested on his shoulders. He was just glad the last twelve years had been peaceful. How had his father done it?

At the tender age of 27, Hiccup sometimes wondered if he should be worried about heart attacks. His life was nothing if not fast paced.

He and Astrid had married aged 21, one year into Hiccup's Chiefdom. Fin had been born within the year, followed by Liv and Leif, in very quick succession by the time he was 25, then Noula last year and a new-un due before the summer was out. In addition to this, he'd had to train two new apprentices at the forge, to cope with the influx of dragon related accessories needed and Gobbers imminent retirement. On top of that, he still had to run the dragon training academy, and in the recent years Astrid had most of the time been far too busy (or pregnant) to help, and besides, even if she'd had the time, Toothless was so overprotective of her when she was pregnant, she wouldn't have been able to do much to help. Toothless even growled at Hiccup if he got too close, sometimes. Normally only when the night fury was sulking though. Hiccup didn't find much time for flying these days either. He missed it dearly.

Sniggers about Astrid and Hiccups sex lives had mostly stopped nowadays, except from Snotlout, of course. Now people treated news of Astrid's pregnancies with a bemused expression and a comment whispered discreetly into a friends ear, and nothing more. It was true that the Haddock's had a bigger family than was common in Berk. Hel, they probably had the biggest family in Berk's history, but as his mother said whenever she visited - which was nearly every day - it was more to love. After losing his mother at a young age, and not being close to his father, and then finding his mother and losing his father on the same day - well, Hiccup just relished in being surrounded in family. His family. And most of all, his wife.

Strong, beautiful, surprising Astrid, who approached marriage and motherhood with the same strong determination that she approached everything. Her family was the cleanest, best fed, friendliest bunch in all of Berk - and probably the whole Barbaric archipelago, or at least it was to her. There was nothing this family couldn't do. Except stop reproducing - or so it seemed.

00

"What are you looking at?" Fin moaned at his brother.

"I'm boooooored" whined Leif.

Liv looked up from her drawing, hands black with charcoal, "I'm bored tooooo,"

Noo crawled over and pulled on her daddy's metal leg, "Uuurughh"

Hiccup stood up. Four bored kids, getting more bad tempered by the minute, and he wasn't really sure what to do with them. He wasn't often left alone with all four of them, but it was laundry day, and Astrid was at the thermal pools with his mother, doing the weeks wash - a family of six, with one still in napkins, produced a lot of laundry in a week. She'd be there most the day and it was barely mid-morning yet. He contemplated taking them to the swimming pond, but didn't have enough hands as Leif still couldn't swim, and Liv wasn't great at it, and he had to keep Noo on him. Nope, not safe. He thought of the beach, but for the same reason vetoed it - more stressful than fun. He could take them for a walk, but ran the risk of them running off. He could take them to the mead-hall and see if anyone was in there that could amuse them - but his little tribe were a walking (and crawling, and running and pooping) whirlwind that could uproot tables and Vikings alike within minutes - best not. He could take them to someone's for a play date.. Yes! That was an idea. He'd take them to Fishleg's. Ruff wouldn't mind, he tried to convince himself. Ah well.

"How about going round to see Rori?" he asked the kids, whose faces instantly lit up. Rori had loads of cool dragon toys!

It took them a good half an hour to get furs and boots on. Eventually, with Noula strapped to his front in a papoose, Fin reluctantly holding onto Leif's wrist ("I'm too old to hold hands Dad!" and Liv obediently holding his own hand, they all climbed down the steps and crossed the village to the lodge where Fishlegs and Ruffnut, now fairly happily married, lived. Stopping at every puddle, which was a lot in the spring thaw, and at every sheep ("Look Dad! It's so fluffy!") and having to stop to point at every dragon overhead ("Da! A da!" Noo shouted excitedly every time. She seemed to have the same word for Dragon and Dad which secretly, Hiccup liked.), meant it took approximately a gazillion times longer to get there than it should have. Releasing Leif, Fin ran up to the door and banged his fist on it. Fishlegs answered.

"Fin, Hi little man! What are you doing here?"

"Dad said we could come play with Rori"

Fishlegs looked up to see an apologetic looking Hiccup, who had had to dash to grab Leif (who had taken advantage of his new found freedom to run in the opposite direction) causing Hiccup to accidently drag Liv over, who scuffed her knee on the floor and burst into tears. Noula, sensing the sudden panic in her dad and not liking the quick movements, decided to join in with her sister and burst into wailing sobs too. Then Leif, also not liking the sudden arm around his waist that yanked him off the floor just as he was finally making headway let out a frustrated yell and started throwing a wobbler, thrashing about in Hiccups arms, who turned to his old friend and mouthed the word "Help!". Fishlegs let out a sympathetic half smile and said "come in."

As Fishlegs was placating Liv with a "super cool" bandage to the knee, Hiccup had dumped Leif in the corner to howl his tantrum out, and was bouncing Noula on his knee. She smiled up at him, gabbling baby jargon with her best conversational tone. Although she couldn't say much, she was a chatty little thing, always having something important to tell you and got very frustrated when you didn't answer her properly. Of course it was impossible to tell what she was really saying, all though a lot of was either do with with daddy, or dragons, and sometimes Mama, or Fin or Iv, which seemed to be her name for both Liv and Leif. Rori and Fin were under the stairs, playing loudly with Roris toy dragons. Hiccup put Noula on the floor for a crawl. Fishlegs and Ruff had a six month old who had just started crawling, so Cheif knew their house was babyproofed and it'd be safe for his youngest to explore. For the first time in what felt like days, but was really probably just a couple of hours, Hiccup could sit back and relax. Well, relax as much as you can with your three year old wailing like he'd just been stabbed in the gut by a nadder spike. Which he hadn't been.

"Tough day?" Fishlegs sat on the couch opposite him.

"I don't know how Astrid does it."

"Well Fin is normally at school. And Liv will be starting soon."

"Fin isn't the problem. He's great. Sensible. Livs not too bad, she likes to play pretty quietly. And Leify, when he's not screaming is pretty sweet. I cant fault Noula," he smiled at the baby who was currently pulling herself up onto her feet on the crate next to him and was watching him with wide blue eyes, "she just does what babies do. It's just, together. That's eight legs! They can run in a lot of directions at once"

Fishlegs chuckled. "Have you tried making like, a harness for them or something?"

"Like for a dragon?" Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! You could like, have a chest harness or like a belt for each of them, and a harness with a papoose for you, for Noula, and you can tie them to you with rope or leather, like long enough for them to wander but not so long that they can get away. You could make them retractable. I don't know, you're the inventor."

"That's quite a good idea!" Hiccup murmured, his fingers itching for a stick of charcoal as blueprints started forming in his head. At that moment, the front door crashed open, startling Leif out of his tantrum, which had mostly blown out anyway. Ruffnut, tall, still impossibly skinny, with a blonde baby strapped to her back and a huge, slightly dripping, laundry basket on her head burst into the room.

"Miss me?" She gleamed, enjoying the apparent atmosphere of chaos that had taken over her house as soon as the Haddocks had arrived.

"Always" replied Fishlegs, kissing his wife on the cheek and releasing baby Vola from her papoose. He plonked her on the floor next to Noula, who patted her on the head. Ruff swept through her living room, ruffling Livs messy hair and plopping the clothes basket down on her kitchen table, still littered with breakfast bowls. She lowered the clothes horse from the ceiling, and turned to the babies, who were watching her intently. Stalking forward, she lowered herself to their eye-lines, and looked Noula dead in the eyes.

"You," she said, "poop. A lot." She turned to her own daughter. "I mean you poop a lot too, but woah, you are nothing compared to Noo. What do you feed her, Hic?"

"She's on solids now"

"Already? No wonder Astrid got knocked up again so quick"

"Ha ha, very funny," Hiccup snarked, "Ruffnut made a pregnancy joke. Never heard one of them before."

Ruff snorted a laugh. "Are you guys staying for lunch? I've got an onion soup going, there's enough for everyone"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I figured you'd be coming here today."

Hiccup stared at her questioningly.

Ruff rolled her eyes. "Laundry day? Also known as Astrid-is-busy-all-day-day and Hiccup-can't-cook-for-shit day-"

"Language!" chided Hiccup, mildly irritated. Even after all these years, Ruff could still be extremely annoying. "Okay, yes, please, we'll stay for lunch. Thank you."

"And after we'll take the kids to the cove," smiled Fishlegs, knowing full well that the walk would exhaust the kids and give all parents involved an early night. Hiccup smiled a grateful smile at him. They could easily manage the six kids between the three of them.

Life was so different with children! It seemed like every moment, when he wasn't working at the forge, or the academy, or following his cheifly responsibilies, was devoted to tiring out his offspring. The days of flying free on Toothless, sneaking off to hidden caves with Astrid, discovering new dragons and new lands seemed like a lifetime ago. Well, it was a lifetime ago. Four lifetimes ago, from his kids perspectives.

00

The sun hadn't even started to set as Hiccup, Fishlegs and Ruffnut shepherded the gaggle of children back into the village. The trek had done it's trick, and Rori was half asleep on his mothers back, as Hiccup carried Leif over his shoulder. Fishlegs had both the babies tucked under his arms, and Fin was dragging a grumpy, heavy lidded Liv behind him by the hand. Fishlegs passed the totally zonked out Noo to her father as they parted ways- her head lolled against his shoulder but she didn't even stir. Hiccup smiled. Perhaps they'd all go to bed early without a fuss and he could finally get some time with his wife.

Astrid heard them coming, and was standing at the door-front when her family plodded up into the house.

"Night", Fin muttered, heading straight up the stairs, stripping off his shirt as he went.

"Goodnight Fin," Astrid called after him, totally bemused.

"I'll take these up too," whispered Hiccup, looking slightly heavy lidded himself.

Astrid stood at the foot of the stairs, slightly taken aback as her husband carried her brood up the stairs. She followed a moment behind, picking up the lagging Liv and chiding them silently for not taking off their boots at the door.

Within ten minutes all four of the children were undressed, hair brushed, hands and faces washed and in bed, already mostly asleep. Hiccup and Astrid tiptoed down the stairs, believing it almost too good to be true.

"I'll have to leave you with the kids more often!" Astrid teased, delighted at the unexpected peace and quiet. She ladled a bowlful of stew into a bowl and passed it to Hiccup before getting herself one. She took the stew off the heat - there was a lot left, but never mind, it'll do for tomorrow's lunch. She pushed Toothless' nose out of the pot and he warbled pathetically at her, stopping only when she gave him the same look she gives the kids when they're pushing it.

"We took them to the cove."

"The cove?!" She couldn't believe it, that was a good few miles away. How had their little legs coped? No wonder they were tired.

"Yup. They had fun."

"You look tired"

Hiccup smiled at her and winked. "Yeah well, you look beautiful,"

"I look fat", Astrid muttered, pushing one hand over her baby bump as she spooned stew in her mouth.

Hiccup looked at her with worshipping eyes "You are beautiful, and round, and perfect, and I hope you always stay that way"

Astrid snorted. "I am not always staying pregnant!"

"Why not?" Hiccup teased, "I mean from the current evidence, you've been pregnant for a lot of the last few years and I mean if that's an indicator, statistically, I mean- oof!"

Astrid had punched him in the arm. "Shut up!"

Hiccup grinned, "No but really. You're beautiful. pregnant, and not pregnant. Although I like you pregnant." As she fell into his embrace, kissing him tenderly on the lips and eyeing up their bedroom beyond, he thought of how lucky he was. He really did like her pregnant. Something about seeing her round with his baby made him feel really proud, really... dominant. He hadn't felt particularly masculine or worthy as a chief until Astrid had fallen pregnant with Fin, and suddenly seeing his wife so obviously round with his child, his virility - he stopped doubting himself. This was who he was. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Chief, Blacksmith, Dragon Master, Husband... but most of all, Da.

* * *

 **AN: I know, I know, total fluff. I'd love some reviews!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Okay, so I didn't take much convincing and have decided to carry this on, at least a little bit. Have a bit of baby logic! Much love x**

Noula stared up.

She hadn't had much choice, seeing as her father had put her down to sleep on her back. She could roll over, but right now her blankets were stopping her and besides, there was less to look at if she was facing down.

She could see the wooden slats above her, upon which her big sister Liv was snoring quietly. Every time Liv moved, the boards shifted slightly, which made Noula worry that they'd fall down and crush her- but it hadn't happened yet. Still, Noo kept one eye on them most of the time. Her Da had carved and painted dragons around the edge of her crib, and wriggling free from the blanket, the blonde baby scooched over and put her fingers on the nearest one - a Night Fury! She liked that one, it was like Toothless. Speaking of Toothless, where was he? Using the bars to pull herself up, onto her feet (she was still quite shaky on her legs, but was definitely getting stronger and could now take a few steps on her own) she reached her hand through the bars, turning her head to squeeze her arm as far through as she could until she felt it: the hard, warm scales under her hand. She opened and closed her fist, trying to get the dragon's attention. Toothless slept in the kid's room most nights now, feeling more at rest knowing that his tiny humans were safe. His bigger humans could mostly handle themselves.

Toothless opened one eye lazily and warbled softly at Noula, as if to say "It's too early, go back to sleep". Pursing her little lips, Noula warbled back in a very convincing mimic of the noises Toothless made, telling him she wasn't tired and look, it was light out! She pointed a finger out the window, at the very first glimpse of sunrise. That meant it was morning.

Toothless rolled his open eye, and shifted a bit lower, out of Noula's reach, turning his head away.

How annoying. Why wasn't everyone up yet? She thought about yelling to wake them, but that always made them really grumpy. She'd just have to get up herself. She'd tried a few times to pull herself up the bars of her cot. In the same way that her legs were getting stronger, her arms were too, and using a carved dragon head as a foothold, she pulled herself up, higher than she had ever gone before. She scrambled her other foot up, searching with her toes for something to stand on. She found another carving, and managed to get enough purchase to pull herself up. Now her belly was leaning on the top bar of the cot, and if she could just swing her leg over and lean forward- yes!

Toothless sat up, alarmed at the sudden weight on his back. He felt it slip of, and slide onto the floor with a thump. He span on the spot and saw the littlest human swaying on all fours, trying to get her balance.

The baby had escaped! Although he didn't totally agree with keeping humans in cages, it did seem like the best way to keep the tiny ones safe when there was no adult around... sometimes Toothless wondered why they didn't keep the bigger ones in cages at night too, it would keep them from treading on him - but the little one was out of her cage! This was not good!

Noula made for the slightly open door, crawling with speed and determination. Panicking, Toothless jumped over her and blocked her way. The stairs were out there, and she might fall. Undeterred, Noula pulled herself up on the dragons hind, and tried to climb up and over the dragon, using his shoulder as a foothold and his ears as leverage. Toothless moaned softly and shimmied, causing Noula to fall back on her bottom with a jolting bump and her eyes filled up with tears of pain. Toothless' eyes widened as she let out a wail of pain. He'd hurt her! Within seconds she'll have woken up the other kids and her parents! Moving like lightening, he grabbed the back of her nightdress with his gums and lifted her back into her cage, where she sat and looked up at him pathetically, arms flailing and sad tears rolling down her reddening cheeks. Toothless warbled sadly, unsure of what he could do to comfort her, patting her very gently on the head with his paw. On the top bunk behind him Fin groaned, rolling over and squashing his pillow against his head. The door behind opened and Astrid walked in, bleary eyed, with her hair in a loose braid and wearing a long nightdress. Muttering a thanks to Toothless, she plucked the baby from her crib, and carried her out the room into their own bed.

Noula liked it better in here. She stopped crying almost immediately as she was placed in the space between her mother and father, who were doing their best to pretend they were asleep. Burrowing under the fur blankets, she spread out her arms and grabbed a fistful of whatever was there. In one hand it felt warm and slightly hairy, and made a noise when she pulled on the hairs. That was Daddy's chest. On the other was a fistful of her mother's soft, blonde hair. Noula liked the feel of that. It was silky in her fingers and tickled a little bit. She knew she wasn't supposed to pull Mamas hair, but it was still fun to pull daddy's. She let herself fall backwards and looked at the ceiling. It was wooden like her crib, but a lot higher up. There weren't any dragons drawn here, or bars keeping them in. She rolled over and looked at her Daddy's face. His eyes were shut and his nostrils opened and closed a tiny little bit with every breath he took. There were tiny hairs coming out of his nose, a bit longer than the ones on the rest of his face. Noula reached out to touch them, to see if they were spiky like the others. Her fingers touched the base of his nostrils, the warmth of his breath tickling her. She wondered how far up they went and moved her fingers a little deeper into his nose.

Hiccup jerked away.

"Oh Noula! Thanks! Just what I wanted! I swear you kids, if you're not picking your own noses you're picking mine!"

He pushed her hand away, and moved his arm in front of his face, settling back down.

Noula squealed in indignance! Picking noses! She didn't pick her nose, that what Leif did! Not her! Urgh, she'd have to have words with that boy, getting her into trouble for things she wasn't doing. However, her father's arm made for something new to play with. He had lots of lines on the back of his hands, little silvery, shiny lines that were sometimes long and narrow and sometimes fat and round. She knew these were something to do with Daddy's job but she wasn't totally sure which one. She stroked one of them - it was bumpy under her finger. Splaying her hand, she felt as many as she could at once. It was a nice feeling, like the outside of a tree but softer and warmer, and hairier. Giggling, she fisted her hand and pulled on the hairs. Hiccup groaned again. He sat up.

"Can't you sleep a little bit longer?" Hiccup asked, begged her.

Why? It was daytime. She pointed at the window to show him so.

"You want to go outside? Really? Now?"

Noula looked at him incredulously and made a noise of impatience. How did he misunderstand her quite so spectacularly? However, Hiccup mistook the look on her face as impatience itself, and sighed. He pulled back the furs and swung himself up, securing his metal foot in place, and stood up, stretching. He reached down to pick up his baby girl, detaching her hand from Astrid's plait, which she'd forgotten she was still grasping with her other hand, and carried her out the room.

Her parents slept on the ground floor, whilst the kids had the attic room. This meant that it really wasn't far at all between the bedroom door, and outside, and pausing only briefly to wrap them both in a rug, Hiccup took the baby outside, setting her down on the grass in front of the lodge. He took a seat on the steps, and Noula crawled about a little bit, pawing at the grass between her fingers. She picked up a stone. Stones, she knew, didn't taste good.

"So, what did you want to come outside for?" Hiccup asked his daughter as he took in the view. It was quite pretty really, quiet and restful in the early morning sun. Something about having kids meant you got to see a lot of sunrises, Hiccup mused, not too bitterly.

"Ga-ba ba noogoo." his daughter told him.

"Is that so?" Hiccup replied, through a heavy yawn.

"Nee roo."

"Can you wait a little longer tomorrow and let Mama and Daddy have some sleep?"

"Nooo." she said, testing a little bit of something she'd found on the floor between her teeth and deciding it not good for eating. Unfortunately it stuck to her tongue and she turned to her father for help, tongue lolling disgustedly out of her mouth.

Hiccup reached out and flicked the dirt off her tongue. "Don't eat the floor Noo, it's not tasty." he chided. Noula thoroughly agreed, trying to get the taste out of her mouth. Grass would help, she decided. She liked how grass tasted.

Hiccup was looking round the village now, and Noula used his momentary distraction to shove a handful of grass in her mouth. Chewing thoughtfully, she followed her fathers gaze. He was staring in the direction of a dragon.

"A da! A da!" She squealed, pointing, as her dad scooped her up. He walked slowly towards it, trying to work out- wait, it was! He'd thought it was Meatlug and so it was. Fishleg's beloved Gronkle was trudging her way across the market square, and as Hiccup and Noula grew nearer they saw a little plodding bundle beside her, carrying a basket under one arm.

"Rori?" asked Hiccup.

Rori jumped, turning, his wide eyes looking at Hiccup in horror. "Mister Hiccup!"

"What are you doing out so early?"

"I...erm... nothing." The little boy looked at the floor.

"You're just taking Meatlug for an early walk, are you?"

"... Yes!" Rori said, his eyes suddenly widening in relief, "Yes, I'm taking Meatlug for a walk."

"Why? What's in that basket?"

Rori tried to hide the basket behind him "Nothing!"

"There must be something!"

"Nope, no, nothing! Er, why is Baby Noula eating grass?"

Hiccup stopped as he was about to take the cover off the basket and glancing at Noula, he noticed a few blades hanging out of her mouth. He sighed, plucking them out and she gave him a goofy grin, before shoving more of her fistful in her mouth.

"Noula, I told you not to eat floor!" Noula immediately stuck her tongue out. She hadn't realised grass was floor. Floor was yucky.. but she did like grass... why were all these rules so complicated? Her dad pulled the bits of grass out her of mouth and she decided to play with his hand instead. She was perfectly happy to chow down on his fingers, when he let her.

Leaving Noula happily chewing on his thumb, Hiccup turned his attention back to Rori, who had hidden the basket behind the Gronkle, and was standing with his hands behind his back and trying to whistle.

"Where were you going, Rori?" The Chief asked, sitting on the grass next to him.

"Fine!" Rori hrumphed, throwing himself on the grass next to his friend's Dad. "I was running away."

Hiccup tried not to laugh. He wouldn't get far on an island. "Why?"

"I'm not allowed to say."

"Rori.."

"Fine! Mum and Dad are having another baby, and it's bad enough already having one who gets all my toys and I have to share my bedroom with and Dad doesn't tell me cool dragon facts for bedtime cos Vola doesn't like it and I have to listen to stupid stories like The Dragon Whose Spots Were Blue and it's not fair and really rubbish and they cry all the time and they smell and it's not faiiir, I don't want another little sister," the little boy wailed.

Hiccup scooched up and put an arm around him. "You know, it might be a boy."

Rori seemed to consider this. He hadn't thought that it might be a boy. "I'd like if it was a boy."

"Well it might be," smiled Hiccup. "And if it is a girl, she can play with Vola, and they'd leave you alone to play with your dragons."

"That'd be cool. I wouldn't have to explain everything to Vola all the time."

Hiccup laughed, wondering how much Baby Vola could understand of Roris complex dragon games, "Exactly! You never know, it might even be twins like your Mama."

"My Mama's a twin?" Rori asked, his forehead frowning.

"Of course she is, Uncle Tuffnut is your Mama's twin brother."

"Oh." Rori paused to think this through, too. "I thought twins had to be both boys or both girls."

"No, no, you can have one of each too."

"That'd be cool! Then I would have a boy to play dragons with and Vola could have a girl to play girl games with!"

Hiccup laughed as Rori stood up.

"I'm going to go tell Mama now to make sure it's twins! A boy and a girl mind!"

"I'll walk you home. Come on Meatlug." Together, with Noula still gnawing happily at her fathers flesh and the Gronkle trailing happily behind, Hiccup took Rori home.

oo

An hour or two later, Noo was sat on what space was left of her mothers lap, porridge being spooned into her open mouth. She didn't much care for porridge, and let most of it loll around in her cheeks instead of swallowing it. As a result most of it ended up on her face, or her clothes, or her mums clothes, or the floor – in fact everywhere except for in her stomach. She'd even managed to smear some in Astrid's plait. Across the table, her brothers and sisters were eating their bowls of oats too, although Leif had refused to touch his before his father had stirred a huge spoonful of apple mush in.

Hiccup had a busy day ahead of him. First he had to swing by the school to drop off Fin and Liv, who had just started in the youngest class. Then he had a dispute over a field of cabbages to sort between two farming brothers, and a wedding ceremony to perform this afternoon, not forgetting to check that his two apprentices at the forge were getting on okay with Gobber (although he was sure they were) and to see how Fishlegs, who he'd offered the role of main trainer at the Dragon academy was doing with the new influx of fresh eight year olds, all wide eyed and raring to get their own dragon. He also had to finish a special saddle for one of his fathers old allies, who would be visiting next week, and had to check in at the food stores to see how well they were stocking up for winter. Although summer hadn't been here long, it would be foolish to forget that winter was never really far away.

Astrid was coming up to full term now, with only a few weeks before the baby was expected to arrive. Hiccup looked fondly at his wife, who had given up trying to coax oats into Noula's mouth and had reached for the bowl of apple mush instead, which Noula was happily licking off the spoon. She looked a bit tired – she hadn't been sleeping well these last few weeks, unable to get comfy in the seasonal heat and with the weight of the baby. A very active little thing it was too, kicking all hours of the day and night. Definitely a Viking warrior in the making.

Hearing the school horn sound across the village, meaning they had five minutes to get there or the kids would be late for class, Hiccup bundled his two eldest out of the door, fortunately not having to stop to put on boots and furs thanks to the warm weather.

Kids on Berk went to school to learn to read and write, and to count, and other useful little snippets like the Islands history, farming, fishing, about dragons and about the other lands that Hiccup and his friends had discovered in their youth. They started classes at about four years old, and went everyday until they were eight, when they started spending two afternoons a week in the dragon academy in addition to their days at school. When they were about ten or eleven, they left to learn a trade. Hiccup hadn't given much thought as to what Fin might do- he thought maybe follow in his footsteps as a blacksmith, though he'd probably rather be a dragon trainer... of course one day, he'd be Chief. He had proved himself reliable as he trudged over to the dragon stables every day after school and mucked them all out. It was a big job, but he always did it well, and Hiccup was proud of his determination. He definitely got that from his mother. Hiccup had no doubt that Fin would be sensible enough to learn to fly by the time he was eight. Liv, on the other hand had only just started school, and was very excited about learning to write. She was already a good drawer for her age, but relished the idea of being able to do something even more useful with a stick of charcoal.

Hiccup looked down at a blackened hand print on his tunic, where Liv had held onto him earlier. He sighed and tried to brush it off. Astrid always got annoyed at the black smudges she was constantly scrubbing off all their clothes. He'd have to think of some sort of way to stop the charcoal getting everywhere – maybe making a wooden holder for it or something, or suspend it in something. He'd have a think. If he got the time.

Oh Gods! He'd forgotten his to-do list. There was no way he'd get through the morning without it. Running back to the house to grab it, he paused in the living room. Astrid had a funny frown on her face.

"Are you alright, love?" he asked, as he noticed his wife's hand clutching low on her bump.

Astrid took a moment to reply. "I think I've just gotten a contraction."

"It's a bit early isn't it?"

Astrid bit her lips together in worry. "Yes, but then, I thought the baby had dropped yesterday but, I mean, we could have been wrong about..." she trailed off, frowning. "It's probably nothing."

"Why don't I take the kids to Mums and you have a rest and I'll come back at lunchtime and see how you are?"

"Noula was here in hours after I went into labour with her," Astrid reminded Hiccup. He could remember well, he'd gone out on a flight to the nearest trade town after lunch one day and came home that evening to find he had a brand new child- he hadn't even know Astrid was in labour.

Hiccup gulped, "well what about if I bring Mum here, and she can watch the kids?"

Astrid nodded as she sat down. "I'll take them with me," Hiccup smiled, kissing his wife's faint worry-lines and scooping Noo and Leify off the floor.

A few minutes later he was knocking at Valka's door, with one squirming child under each arm. Valka laughed as she greeted them.

"Hiccup! Kids! Come in. Is everything okay?"

"Astrid thinks the baby might be coming."

"Ah," Valka's smile faltered for a tiny moment, before she gave him a determined smile. "I was less far along with you when you were born, so I'm sure the babe will be fine if it does make it's appearance today. Do you want me to watch the kids?"

"Actually, I was hoping you could watch Astrid too."

"Of course. Say no more." Valka gathered her bag, and skipped past him, towards the Chiefs lodge.

It was with an even heavier mind than normal that Hiccup set about his work that morning. He kept Toothless close, knowing that he'd hear if something happened. He'd just fly up to the farm and settle this cabbage dispute, and rush back to see if anything was happening...

He really hoped that it was a false alarm...

 **AN: Bit of a cliffhanger! I'd love if you could leave me a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks to those who pointed out the formatting issue, should be fixed now!**

* * *

A huge smudge of charcoal had appeared on the paper, completely ruining the drawing of a terrible terror that Liv had just spent literally hours on. She groaned. This happened nearly every time! She really liked drawing, she really really did, especially when Daddy took the time to show her how to make the different shapes that made up a Thunderdrum, or how to crush leaves and flowers to make different colours that you could rub into the sketches with a wooden stick. It was something she was better than Fin at! Dad always praised Fin for being sensible and grown up but Liv knew she was far more sensible, and lots more grown-up than Fin was. She just hadn't had a chance to prove it yet. And Fin was really really rubbish at drawing.

Her stomach rumbled. It must be close to dinner time. She'd been in from school a while, and even Fin had gotten back from the stables by now, she'd just heard him. Gathering her charcoal into her pencils box, she put it high on the shelf where Noula and Leify couldn't reach, and used a bit of Night Fury slobber that she kept in a jar to stick the picture to the wall by her bunk. It wasn't great, but it was better than the last time she had tried to draw a Thunderdrum. Even if it did have a big grey smudge across the middle. If anyone asked, it was smoke.

"Mama," Liv called as she walked down the stairs, "what's for tea?"

It was her Dad that answered. "Mama's not here love, she's gone to Nana's."

"Why?" Liv asked. Hiccup tried not to look worried.

"Because Mama thinks that the baby might be born very soon."

Liv contemplated this for a moment. "Why can't she have the baby here?"

"Because having a baby can be very loud, and she wouldn't want to stop you all from going to sleep."

"Oh. Okay. When will the new baby be here?"

"I don't know hun, maybe by the time you wake up in the morning."

"Wow!"

Hiccup smiled at his oldest daughter and once again wondered whether his newest child would be a girl or a boy.

"Where do babies come from, Daddy? I know they come from Mama's tummy but how do they become babies?"

Hiccup panicked. How the Hel do you explain the birds and the bees to a five year old? His father had told him the old clichéd lines of "When a mummy and daddy love each other very much..." but even that was a bit much for a kid who couldn't yet put the right boots on the right feet...

"Babies come from..." Hiccup stopped, looking round for inspiration, "they are made from love and hard work." It condensed it. Sort of. It wasn't lying. Liv paused again to consider this.

"Is..." she began, hesitating, "...is that why Uncle Snotlout hasn't got any children? Because he doesn't love a wife and he doesn't work very hard?"

Hiccup burst out a laugh before controlling himself. It was so true. To be honest, he was torn between giving in to his laughter and scolding the child for badmouthing her Uncle. Fortunately, Ruffnut chose that moment to make her entrance, bursting through the front door with a snoozing Vola on her back and a big pot of something that smelt like stew in her hands.

"Valka sent me a message, said Astrid was at hers, so I've bought dinner and me. I'll watch the kids Chief, you go to your wife before she beats you up for missing another birth!"

Hiccup melted with relief. To be honest, he'd been so preoccupied worrying about Astrid and the baby coming early, that he hadn't thought to cook anything. Or to really do anything at all. In all honesty the place was a mess. But he had bigger fish to fry right now, and he was sure Ruff would probably make sure the house was tidy before Astrid brought the baby home. What a terrifying thought.

Over at Valka's, Hiccup knocked tentatively at the door. It pulled open from the inside, but whoever had opened it didn't welcome him in. The living room was busy, with the village midwives and a healer bustling about, as well as Valka, and Astrid's mother. Leaning with both hands on the sofa but looking remarkably calm was Astrid.

"Love, are you okay?" Hiccup asked, taking her face in his hands. He placed a kiss on her lips.

"I think so. It's coming though."

They looked at each other, communicating their worries through their eyes. They didn't need to speak.

"You'll be okay," Hiccup tried to reassure her, "you both will."

"It's early Hiccup. Why is it early?" Her blue eyes searched the green depths of his. "What have we done?"

"Nothing. This isn't a punishment. It's a blessing. We get to see our child sooner."

"It'll be too small."

"Well at least you won't be pushing another Leif out. He was so big I could have sworn he was Snotlouts", Hiccup grinned with a wink. Astrid went to punch him in the arm, but sucked in her breath and her hand gripped her back instead as she curled in on herself. Hiccup rubbed the small of her back in small circles. After a moment, the contraction passed.

"How often are they?"

"Not very," Astrid replied, her forehead wrinkling into a frown. "I've been having them since this morning and they're not even that close. Noo had been born by now. I'm worried Hiccup."

"Every child is different." Hiccup said - a phrase his mum had said to him many times over since Fin was born.

"It's not even out yet."

"And it's already causing trouble. I guess we might finally have a rascal on our hands."

Astrid didn't smile.

00

Noula woke up, and even before she opened her eyes she knew something wasn't right. Something didn't smell right. She wrinkled her nose, and, peeping through her eyelashes, saw a pink head with blonde hair lying on the mat next to her. Sharing her blanket! Noula contemplated screeching as she stared with suspicious distaste at the sleeping baby beside her.

Why was Vola asleep in her crib? It was Noulas! Vola better not be getting any ideas. Why was she even here? Noo didn't understand at all. She let out a yell and pushed at Vola. Vola completely ignored her, but a moment later the bedroom door opened. Finally! What had taken them so long?

Noula looked up, and did a double-take. That wasn't Mama or her da. That was Vola's Mama. What was Vola's Mama doing here? And where were Mama and Daddy? She hadn't seen them in forever! Had they gone? Where had they gone? Noula didn't like this, she didn't like this one bit. Her brow crumpled, and her bottom lip started the wobble, and tears started falling down her cheek as she let out a heartbreaking sob. She wanted her Mama!

"Hey there chickadee," Ruff crooned, pulling Noula out of her crib. She carried her out of the bedroom so that she wouldn't wake the others and gently bounced her as she walked down the stairs around the living area. Noula could not be comforted. As she paced, Ruffnut sang a lullaby tale.

"Hey there, little Viking,

Great Noula is your name.

I sing a song of a great Chief,

O, dragons did he tame.

He lived in times of fighting

Of weapons, loss and flame,

He was but a naer-do-well,

Who bought his father shame.

But then, one day a Night Fury

He shot down, he did maim

But great warrior Hiccup, o,

He felt, and took the blame.

He tracked him cross the island,

He checked each mountain range,

And his found the dragon in a cove,

For the beast was trapped and lame.

Yet slowly, over several days

O, him and the dragon came

Closer to one another,

Yes, the Night Fury was tame.

Great Hiccup learnt to fly with him,

He learnt to fly to fame,

He saved us all from a fiery end...

Chief Hiccup- Man of Flame."

00

The baby still hadn't arrived by morning. The contractions felt like they were becoming more frequent, but it was at such a painfully slow rate. Astrid couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't sit still, or stand for long and felt uncomfortable lying down. Hiccup couldn't stay still either. Sometimes he sat with her, holding her hand and wiping her face and arms as she glistened with a slight sweat, despite the cool night air. Sometimes he paced, or went outside for air, and he kept putting logs on the fire. For a little while, he dozed very lightly in a chair, ever aware of everything that was going on around him.

As the night had set deeply in, the room had become calmer and settled. Astrid was curled in an armchair, her hand in Hiccups hair as he dozed, sat on the floor next to her. There was a clicking of needles as the midwife who had stayed sat and knitted, and Astrid's mother was resting in Valka's bedroom. To Hiccup, it felt like almost as soon as it had become calm, and everyone had settling into a gentle pace of patience, Astrid's waters broke.

"That's not an awful lot of water", Valka commented. "Maybe the baby will be bigger than we thought."

Astrid showed neither relief nor fear at this. She was too tired. Hiccup stroked her hair as he tried to lull her into a sleep - even if it was only for a few minutes. Astrid needed to rest.

00

"I don't need to scream, I don't need to scream" Astrid repeated to herself through gritted teeth. It was midday and in the back of her mind she was aware that people would hear if she screamed. She was Astrid, the fiercest warrior on Berk. She never screamed. Yet this baby felt like it was tearing her open, burning as it crowned. She could feel it between her legs, slowing lowering through her passage as she pushed and pushed with all the energy she could. And then, before she had expected it, the babies head was out, and the sudden relief was almost pleasurable.

The next contraction came a moment later and Astrid bore down, determined to get this baby right out of her, right now. With a gush of fluid, the baby slid out into the midwife's waiting hands. She held it up and passed the baby straight to the Cheif.

"A girl!" Hiccup cried. "Oh! She's so small!"

Astrid looked at the baby Hiccup offered. Purple, and wailing and throwing her fists around, the baby was absolutely tiny. She couldn't have been longer than his forearm. The midwife tied a length of linen thread around the pulsing cord, and cut it with a pair of scissors.

He was overcome. Never, ever had he seen a baby so small. His daughter, his brand new baby daughter. He gazed at her with doe eyes, taking in every tiny details, the curve of her nose, the tiny pads of her fingers, the-

"Quick," the midwife broke the moment, "Astrid, put her under your shirt, keep her warm, we don't want her cold."

Hiccup lowered the baby into Astrid arms, unable to take his eyes away from the pale blue of the baby's. Within seconds, Astrid tucked her baby under her shirt, and the midwife packed a blanket around the two of them. Hiccup sat on the edge of the bed, his arm around his wife's shoulder. He missed the baby already. He could see the top of her head, nestled against Astrid's chest and wriggling a bit less as Astrid murmered gentle loving words at her. He wanted to see her again.

A moment, or maybe several moments later, he didn't know, he was lost in their embrace, Hiccup sat back. Suddenly, he was very tired. It had been a long day. It left like a very long time since he had taken Noula out onto the grass yesterday morning. He wondered how the kids were getting on with Ruff. He hoped they weren't acting up. His thoughts were skittish and jumped around in his head. He hadn't finished the babies crib yet... it was still in the lean-to at the back of the lodge, waiting to be painted. They'd planned to put it in their room for the time being, and then in the Spring they would build an extension to the back of the lodge, where the lean-to was now, with a room on the ground floor for Noula and the new baby, and a new room upstairs for Liv, and the boys could keep their attic room. They really were getting too big for four to a room. And definitely too big for five to a room... however that would all have to wait for Spring. He'd nip home now and bring the cot in - it could be painted at a later date.

Hiccup was about to get up when Astrid groaned as her womb contracted once more.

"It's just the after-birth hun, nothing to worry about," a midwife soothed.

"I know that," Astrid muttered under her breath, "I've had four before."

Hiccup gave her a look.

"What?" She gave him a contemptuous glare. "I've just pushed a person out of me, I don't have to be nice-ah!" She hissed as another contraction gripped her.

"Are placentas supposed to hurt?" she asked the midwife

"Not really."

"This one hurts."

"It'll come."

"I hope it hurries up."

00

Hiccup was about to leave his mother's lodge to get the crib ready and check on the kids when he heard Valka gasp.

"Feet!"

Hiccup paused and looked round. Valka and the midwife were staring at his wife's opening, where, apparently, there were feet. The midwife sprang into action.

"Astrid, it's another baby, but it's feet first. I need you to give Hiccup that baby and get ready to push again."

"What?!" Astrid cried, suddenly bursting into tears of exhaustion and shock, but only for a second. She visibly shook herself and wiped the tears off her cheeks as she felt the instinctual urge to push. "Okay... I. Okay. Oh gods, oh Freya..."

Hiccup leapt across the room. Another baby!? What!? Surely it was just a weird afterbirth? Hiccup had no idea what an afterbirth looked like to be honest. In a daze, he took the baby from Astrid, as instructed, and tucked her under his shirt. She was asleep now, but Hiccup barely noticed. He was staring in horror at the two feet, clearly visible and emerging with astonishing speed from his wife's nether regions. Astrid let out a growling moan as she pushed the baby out, out came the legs and - it was a girl, another girl! Out came her torso, and her arms and- there it stopped. Astrid gasped for air as the contraction stopped. Tears were leaving ruddy streaks down her sweating face. Hiccup was terrified. There was his child, his sixth (sixth!) child, hanging out of his wife by it's neck. This was the scariest, freakiest thing he had ever experienced. He didn't know what to do.

"Right, last time!" the midwife encouraged, as Astrid felt the next contraction come on almost immediately. She moaned louder this time. Hiccup could barely believe his eyes as Astrid gave a final, moaning push - overtired, with tears now pouring down her face - and the second baby slid out onto the bed. A second girl. Twins.

Hiccup couldn't move. He was stunned. Overcome with more emotions that he thought were possible- fear, disbelief, relief, confusion, happiness. He didn't know what to think. This had all happened so quickly. Twins! Hiccup gulped. He looked down at the tiny little thing cradled inside his shirt, purple, and crumpled, her chest moving up and down. This little girl who was barely the length of his forearm, that he could almost fit in one hand. And she had a twin sister... Hiccup literally had his hands full.

A little while later, as he sat once more beside Astrid on the bed, with one baby tucked under his shirt, one under Astrids, and several blankets wrapped round all four of them, he wasn't sure if he should thank the gods or if he'd done something to evoke the wrath of Loki. They were alive, tiny but perfect - that was something to be thankful for... but Odin Almighty.

Hiccup hoped to Hel that they weren't identical.

But they were.

00


	4. Chapter 4

Fin glowered at the table. Four sisters. How could this be fair?! What did he need four sisters for? Mum could have had one boy, and one girl - if she had to have twins at all- and then it'd be fair. But four sisters! The girls were winning.

Fin looked across the living room, at the cradle by the fire where his new baby sisters were sleeping. At least they were sleeping. If Noula cried a lot, she was nothing in comparison to these two. He hadn't slept a wink since they came home! If one wasn't screaming, then the other was screaming, which would wake up the other one, and Noula would join in because she didn't like them at all and sometimes Mum was so tired she sometimes cried and Dad always looked like he wanted to cry when Mum cried, and Leify cried, and Liv cried and Fin felt like the only person in this family who wasn't crying all the time! It was ridiculous!

He'd taken to spending far more time with the dragons, pretending that cleaning the stables took far more time than it actually did. Thunderdrums made less noise than his family at the moment.

It had been about two weeks since the babies had been born and it had been rubbish the whole time. They were always eating weird things that Nana Haddock had cooked (which were no-where near as good as Mum's cooking) because apparently Mum wasn't well enough to cook, and Mister Fishlegs had been taking them to school in the morning instead of Dad, which was cool actually because Mister Fishlegs knew loads and loads about dragons, probably more than his dad even knew and told him loads of cool facts, but there were smelly nappy smells all over the house and the only quiet place was his bedroom, and that wasn't even that quiet.

"Why do they cry so much, Dad?" he'd asked a few days after they'd come home from Nana's.

"They're new." His Da had replied, whilst bouncing one of them who he'd just managed to get off to sleep, "Everything is new and scary for them, and they don't know why they're uncomfortable when they're uncomfortable, and crying is their way of asking for help."

Fin understood that, sort of, but surely they'd be used to everything by now. It's not like they did much except drink, sleep, winge and poo.

Fin had suddenly developed a fondness for Noula, who seemed positively angelic compared to the new ones. At least Noo could nearly walk, and sort of talk, and only really cried when she was scared. And she knew what a dragon was, even if she only called it a "da". She could at least try to say "Dra". Fin picked her up, and took her outside onto the step, where Mum was sitting and watching the village.

"Noula," Fin had decided it was time to teach her to speak properly. "Can you say 'dragon'?"

Noo smiled gummily at him. "Da!"

"No, not 'Da', Noula, it's 'Dra', with a 'r' in it"

Noula scunched up her nose "Urrrr"

"That's it! Say 'Dra'!"

"Da!"

"No, Noula, 'Dra'"

"Da!"

"You're missing out the 'r'!"

"Urrrrrrrr"

"Drrrraaagon" he said slowly

"Durrrrrrrrrrr"

"That's it!"

Noula looked very pleased with herself.

"Da!"

Fin hit his forehead in exasperation. "Dra! Drrrraaaaaa!"

"RRRRR!" Noula growled,

Astrid, who had been watching with amusement, laughed. "That's the noise a dragon makes Noula."

"Or the noise Dad makes when he's snoring." Fin added cheekily, avoiding a smack round the head from his mother.

"RRRRR!" Noula growled, smiling and enjoying the attention.

The door opened behind them, and Leif and Liv walked through, followed by Hiccup.

"I hear a tiny dragon!", Hiccup smiled, tickling Noo under the chin.

Astrid looked at him, eyes a bit wider than they were a moment ago. She started to get up.

"The babies..?"

Hiccup gently pushed her back down again. "Toothless is watching them, they're asleep."

Toothless had taken it upon himself to keep a proper eye on the two new little humans. Why on earth the fully grown humans insisted on producing far more hatchlings than they could handle, he had no idea. I mean, they couldn't even keep the fourth one from nearly killing herself twice a day, why on earth did they think it was a good idea to have another two?!

At least these ones couldn't get up to trouble. He sat and looked into the crib, where two pink faces were nestled in a huge nest of blankets and furs. They eyes were squeezed into lines, above their little upturned noses, and tiny lips that twitched in their dreams.

They're not very well evolved, thought Toothless. A baby dragon can walk, and eat by itself, and can even fly a bit. These can't do anything for themselves. Even the one that has been here for two summers now can't even walk yet, and get's food everywhere but her mouth when she is given something to eat. How do they survive at all? The little humans have to be kept warm, because their own fur isn't sufficient for that, and Toothless can't help but wonder what would happen if they were left to their own devices.

Absolutely no-one could tell them apart yet, so they'd decided not to name them until their personality started to show them apart a bit.

Toothless was pretty sure he could smell the difference. Both Fin and Astrid thought they could tell which one was which from their cries, Astrid reasoning that one had a higher pitch than the other, while Fin said "you can just tell". Hiccup had absolutely no idea how to tell which was which, and Liv was sure that one of them (though no-one knew which) was definitely prettier than the other - or at the very least less squashed looking. Leif didn't really have much of an opinion, and Noula didn't like either of the very much at all, and thought of them as one entity: "the enemy".

It felt as if nearly all the village had visited so far, all of them suggesting names and giving hints and tips about how to tell them apart, how to look after them, how to nurse them, send them to sleep and a gazillion other things. Suddenly, it seemed, absolutely everyone was an expert on twins. Except, he felt, Hiccup.

In all honesty, the real reason they hadn't named them yet was because they hadn't thought of name's they liked yet. They'd already discussed that they could put a bracelet on one, and not on the other, to tell them apart.

* * *

 **NA: Sorry it's not particularly long, I've been mega busy. Got any name suggestions for the twins?**


End file.
